Serve Asia Bible Study Podcast

The end of mission is of how God’s grand narrative concludes with the completion of mission, to reach the ends of the earth. Phil Nicholson has been involved in missions for over 30 years. We ask him whether he has ever had times when he wanted to end his time in missions and decide it's time to go home to Australia. We also dig a little deeper into the theology of the end and ask about over-realised and under-realised eschatology. Join us for the final episode of our journey through missions!

The gospel still holds power to transform lives today, despite growing opposition to Christianity and claims that we’re on the wrong side of history. Joining us to discuss this is Amy Gibson who has over 20 years of experience in church planting and ministry in Taiwan and currently lives in a countryside village in Chiayi County.

From being the "product of the Singapore dream" to serving women who work in a red light district in the Pearl Family Garden ministry. SinEe shares about why she 'got moving' for missions and went instead of staying.

There are lots of ideas about what Christian missions is. Often there is a preconception that missions is about helping people. You might bring a group of young people to an underdeveloped part of the world, build some buildings and take some photos with children. Then when you return you report to your church what you have have done. But Japan is a wealthy country, with technology and healthcare. The standard of living is very high. So what is the essence of mission? In this episode, we have a special guest who has been church planting in a rural town of Japan where out of ~27,000 people his family of five is about half of the Christian population. We welcome Andrew Wong.

Matthew 9:35-38, is often used when we are trying to encourage people to share the gospel, be involved in missions… Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” But this passage is actually a command not to share the gospel, but to pray. To ASK God to do something. Tina Keller, who is now OMF's international director for evangelisation, shares about the blessings of participating in prayer throughout her work in missions. She was formerly part of a church planting team and continues to work with local churches in Taiping, Taichung (Taiwan).

"Sharing the gospel is very important. But I think we only have the right to share when we have made an effort to understand the people we are reaching out to, or are trying to love and help, or love and support, or walk with." How does social justice fit in with our faith? Hear from Tera van Twillert who has over 20 years sharing the gospel and loving women who work in the sex trade.

God can bring his opponents in to become part of his blessed people, and sometimes that’s a shock. In Taiwan, God sometimes works in the hearts of those have given up on. Joining us to discuss this is Thomas McIntyre who has been church planting in Taiwan for more than a decade.

Have you ever tried to share Jesus with someone and they’re not interested? It can be quite disappointing, discouraging - what do you do if that keeps happening? Even though Christianity has been in Taiwan for over 150 years, in many parts of Taiwan there’s very little interest in Jesus. Today, our guest is Jason. He lives in rural Taiwan, where there are less than 1% Christian, maybe 0.5% Christian. He has experienced, over many years, what it feels like “when no one listens."

Phil Nicholson has served for over 30 years in Australia, Taiwan, and across Asia in pastoral ministry, student work, leadership, training preachers, and many other areas. Over this time, society's view of Christianity has shifted drastically, increasingly viewing Christians as intolerant and narrow-minded. How do you respond to someone who says that Christians are intolerant and narrow-minded for claiming that the Lord is the only true God? In the West, Christians may often be (sometimes rightly) accused of being bigoted and narrow-minded. What are some objections that other cultures might have to Christianity? Hear from Phil's experience answering these questions and more.

King Solomon’s wisdom and wealth greatly influenced the whole world but it didn't last as he turned away from God. Yet even he points forward to the greater glories of the kingdom of heaven ruled by King Jesus. Brian Janssen has been ministering to university students in Taiwan for a decade. In this episode, he shares about how one might be an influencer of God in today’s society through our faith in all seasons of life.